Università Roma Tre

The course aims to present an updated and comprehensive picture of medieval culture (fifth-fifteenth century), framing Italy within a broader Euro-Mediterranean context. Taking into account the most recent historiographical debates and acquisitions, lessons will try to bring students closer to different aspects concerning cultural phenomena, starting from definitions and categories such as "culture", "written culture" and "intellectual" to analyze then school practices, literacy, production and circulation of texts in their relations with society, politics, economics and religion. More precisely, the lessons will focus on the following aspects: "culture" as a historiographic problem between theoretical debates and research; written sources: qualitative and quantitative aspects; the problem of literacy and school in the early Middle Ages; book culture in the early Middle Ages; documentary culture in the early Middle Ages; the eleventh and twelfth centuries between juridical renaissance, textual discoveries and school transformations; book culture of the late Middle Ages; documentary culture of the late Middle Ages; language: Latin and vernacular in the late Middle Ages; the fourteenth century and the relationship between crisis and cultural production; Humanism. Lessons will alternate between frontal explanations and direct exercises on the sources or on specific bibliography.

Program for non attending students:
- Ronald Witt, "L’eccezione italiana. L’intellettuale laico nel Medioevo e l’origine del Rinascimento", italian translation by Anna Carocci, Roma, Viella, 2017 (original edition Cambridge 2012)

Program for attending students:
- Lectures notes, articles and sources discussed during the lesson.